LSP_Kevin

I thought about doing something like that, but I was worried about matching everything up cleanly, and just decided to go with what I've got. Kev

Derek actually mastered a lot of the early Welsh kits. I have a few in the stash, but have been quite taken with the idea of larger 1/72 airliner kits lately. Kev

Should I give him longer than it takes to get a shipping notice on a current purchase? Kev

Though I'm not finished yet, I thought I'd pop in and post an interim update on my progress with the canopy. It's been a ton of work so far, and quite a bit more to go yet! You may recall that I had previously been talking about replacing the clear panels between the frames as a way of fixing the visible step marks from the 3D-printed master. After quite an effort to separate the opening section from the fixed section, I quite quickly changed my mind! There's just no way I would have been able to cut out and replace those panels accurately, and in fact it would have been a complete

Looks great, Iain! Kev

And here am I wondering if Woody's rivet set will fit the Matchbox kit... Kev

You plan your builds? Wow! I tend to stumble over a box full of plastic while holding some glue in my hand, and somehow end up with a finished model - though usually years later. Kev

And now I've just ordered the BPK 1/72 B737-100 kit! Kev

Well, out of the 350 unbuilt kits in my stash, I really want to build about 600 of them. Kev

Chuck, make sure you copy the plain-text link for your images. bbCode no longer works, and pre-formatted URLs will only be displayed as links - much like what we're seeing your post above. When in doubt, use the 'Insert image from URL' option in the 'Other Media' drop-down (bottom right of the edit window). Looking forward to seeing the photos! Kev

I've started buying kits again lately too, after a long time (many years) of rarely buying brand-new kits - though I did buy a smattering from swap meets and friends. And with an unbuilt stash of 350 kits, I hardly need any more! Only this morning I ordered the brand-new Kinetic Harrier, which I'm really looking forward to. Kev

That's pretty cool, Derek! Does anyone do a (decent) 727 in 1/72 scale? Kev

Nah, there's no way I'm going to bother reshaping the spine now. Hinging the canopy hood in the open position solves he problem with a lot less work - and certainly a lot less sanding! And unfortunately in my experience you can't really polish the kind of clear plastic used for vacuforming; in fact, it's even quite difficult to sand. This one certainly has been. But you're right: if I plan to remove the clear panels anyway, then I have nothing to lose by trying to polish them first. Kev

Awesome project, Kent - and awesome work so far! Kev

Thanks again, my dudes. Wasn't able to get much more done today, but I did turn my attention to the canopy once again, as this is the crucial area of this conversion, and the build overall. As you might remember, I've been delaying the decision about opening up the canopy until as late in the process as possible. Opening it up would make it easier to get a good fit, owing to fewer mating surfaces having to match up, but it would also expose the cockpit and hospital stretcher, and also require more detailing work on the opened canopy itself. So the decision was going to hinge (pardon the pun) o

Howdy folks, I've just published the latest What's New update. Enjoy! Kev

Thanks, Max. I've actually got some lead foil on order, and have been waiting for it to arrive for over 3 weeks now! It's coming from NZ, but has actually been in Melbourne since the 11th of the month. Perhaps it's in quarantine. Kev

Howdy folks, New reviewer Jean-Paul Poisseroux checks out a new Hunter decal set from Matterhorn Circle: Matterhorn Circle 32019: Hawker Hunter Mk.58/T Mk.68 1958-1994 Thanks, Jean-Paul! Enjoy. Kev

OK, here's the result of all that filling, sanding, and priming: Acceptable, but still a little bit of work to do. The forward section is hinged and has a slight overhang with the fuselage, along with a reinforcement strip along its bottom edges, so I still need to take care of those elements. I've been contemplating whether I should try to replicate the latches, but since I have no idea how, I probably won't. Thanks to everyone for tuning in and commenting so far. More soon! Kev

That is stunning, Spyros! One of the nicest-looking Phantoms I've ever seen. Kev

Actually, this is something I still struggle with. I do have wood blocks and the like for this kind of work, but find them clumsy to use, and generally I'm too lazy to drag them out of wherever I've hidden them! I end up relying too heavily on those skinny sanding sticks, which are great for what they're good at, but shouldn't really be used on large areas like this, as they do tend to produce localised depressions if you're not careful (and sometimes even if you are). Anyway, I've been searching for a solution to this dilemma, but had forgotten until yesterday that I'd recently bo

Superb, Anthony! Kev

I'm back with the promised update, which mainly concerns the rear spine part. I knew from the outset that this would be a troublesome aspect of the conversion, as the total length of the two resin pieces in my set seemed to come up short. I spoke with Uncle Les about this, and he confirmed that his examples were fine, so I'm not sure why mine aren't the same, but I suspect I might have been overly aggressive when sanding the ends, which would at least partially account for it. Anyway, the upshot of all that is that I knew I would have a gap to fill somewhere, and up until yesterday

Thanks Peter. I did actually do some of the cutting with a disc in the Dremel, but it was quite a thick one, and didn't work well at all. I certainly couldn't cut flush with it. I'm not actually sure what a 'slitting disc' is, so I guess I should go check that out. Kev

Howdy folks, Kevin Williams fires up the wayback machine to take a look at Hasegawa's Fw 190F-8: Hasegawa Focke-Wulf Fw 190F-8 Thanks, Kevin! Kev